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JOHN W. TYLER 
A MEMORIAL 




JOHN W. TYLER 
From photograph taken a short time before his death 



1808-1888 



A MEMORIAL OF THE 

ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY 

OF HIS BIRTH 

SEPTEMBER 27. 1908 






PRIVATEX.Y PRINTED 



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CONTENTS 



Introductoey Note . . . . . 9 

BlOGEAPHICAL SkETCH BY J. Z. TyLER . . 11 

Funeral Services ..... 26 

Abstracts of Addresses .... 27 

Some Other Tributes ..... 36 

Letter prom Dr. R. J. Spurr ... 39 

Letter from Rev. D. P. Henderson . . 45 

Letter from Rev. David Gay regarding the 
last Sunday Service in which J. W. Tyler 

participated ...... 49 

Ancestors back to 17th Century . . 52 

Descendants to 1908 ..... 56 

Descendants of Brothers and Sisters of J. 

W. Tyler 62 

Reprints of Some Family Papers : 

(a) Baptist Ministerial Certificate, 1835 64 

(b) Certificate of Ordination, 1853 . 64 

(c) William Tyler^s Deed to Kentucky 

Farm, 1789 65 

(d) Will of Willl^m Tyler, 1827 . . 67 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

'John W. Tyler .... Frontispiece 
"" Birthplace of John W. Tyler . . facing 14 

^ Residence of John W. Tyler at Decatur, 

Illinois facing 22 

■ The Old Spring House . . . facing 40 

The Old Family Burial Place in Kentucky 

facing 54 



DEDICATED TO THE 
DESCENDANTS OF JOHN W. TYLER 
TO THE REMOTEST GENERATION 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

This little book would not have been possible, 
but for the painstaking efforts of Rev. J. Z. Tyler 
of Cleveland, 0., who, through a long period of years, 
has collected and carefully preserved material re- 
lating to family history that would have otherwise 
been lost. With loving devotion to the memory of 
our father, he has, for many years, hoped to put this 
into permanent form for preservation. Failing 
health, however, made it necessary to lay this aside, 
more than ten years ago, but through these years of 
invalidism he has cherished the hope that in some 
way it might take form. 

It is at his suggestion that the 100th anniversary 
of our father's birth is made the occasion for issuing 
this Memorial. It is not as complete or detailed as 
it would have been, had he been able to give it his 
personal care and to have contributed from his re- 
markable memory the fund of family tradition and 
reminiscence that he gathered years ago from con- 
versations with father and mother and with grand- 
parents and uncles in Kentucky. 

The material thus preserved, together with the 
data collected by Mrs. Sue F. Odor regarding the 



''Descendants," is now brought together and on 
this the centennial anniversary of his birth, the de- 
scendants of John W. Tyler unite in having this 
Memorial put into print. 

Des Moines, Iowa Alice S. Tyler 

September 27, 1908 



10 



A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

Prepared by J. Z. Tyler, for the ''Biographical. 
Eecord of Macon County, Illinois," 1893 

John W. Tyler (1808-1888) was the eldest son 
of Benjamin Tyler (1782-1870), who was the third 
son of William Tyler (1747-1843), who was a native 
of Virginia and one of the first settlers of Fayette 
County, Kentucky. 

The first American ancestor of the Virginia 
Tylers was Henry Tyler, a reputed native of Shrop- 
shire, England. In the third volume of the Virginia 
Land Register is the record of a patent in Henry 
Tyler's name, bearing date January 7, 1652, and lo- 
cating two hundred and fifty-four acres of land in 
what was known as the Middle Plantation, "due to 
him by and for transporting to this colony six per- 
sons to-wit : the said Henry Tyler himself, and Mary 
his wife, and Anne Sherman, Thomas Day, David 
Legurne, and Ja : Musskatina, — forty-six acres re- 
maining due on the last name." The laws of the 
colony at that time encouraged immigration by al- 
lowing to the importer fifty acres for each and every 

11 



person brought over at his expense. This Henry 
Tyler lived on the outskirts of what is now 
the city of Williamsburg, and his residence, 
though remodeled, retains many quaint and 
beautiful features of ''ye olden time." His 
name repeatedly occurs in the records in con- 
nection with some of the most respectable 
names of the colony. His eldest son, Henry, married 
into the Page family of Virginia and played a useful 
part in the affairs of the colony. He held many 
offices of trust and authority in York County, through 
a long series of years, with credit and character. 
He died in 1729, leaving three sons : John, Francis, 
and Henry. This Henry, the third of the name, 
heired the ancestral homestead, but in 1752 he sold 
out and removed to Sussex County and there died 
in 1774. Leaving no surviving issue, he divided his 
property between his grand-nephew, John Tyler, "at- 
torney at law in Charles City County and his grand- 
nephew, William Tyler, grandson of Francis Tyler, 
of Prince William. ' ' This will is recorded in Sussex 
County Court. The young attorney mentioned 
therein became the father* of John Tyler, the tenth 
President of the United States, and the other legatee 
appears to have been the William Tyler who located 
a few years later in Fayette County, Kentucky, and 
became the grandfather of John W. Tyler, the sub- 
ject of this sketch. Some genealogists, however, i 
make William Tyler, the grandfather of John W. 

*John Tyler, father of the 10th President of the U. S., and 
William Tyler, grandfather of John W. Tyler, were bom in the 
same year, 1747. 

12 



Tyler, to be the grandson of Charles Tyler (died 
1723) of Westmoreland County, Virginia. [See 
"Ancestors Back to 17th Century" in this volume.] 

William Tyler, the grandfather of John W., was 
born December 27, 1747; was married to Letty 
George August 15, 1774; and died March 1, 1843. 
The exact date of his settlement in Kentucky is not 
known. Eanck, in his history of Lexington, Ky., says : 
"The summer of 1776 found no white man in all 
the length and breadth of the present Fayette Coun- 
ty." In March, 1779, Col. Eobert Patterson was 
sent from the fort at Harrodsburg and was success- 
ful in building a block-house fort on the very site 
where Lexington now stands. James Masterson, 
after whom the fort five miles north-west of Lex- 
ington was named, was a member of the company 
commanded by Col. Patterson. William Tyler made 
his home, with his small family, in Masterson fort 
for a time after reaching Kentucky. A deed, with- 
out date, now in possession of a great-grandson of 
William Tyler, was placed on record at the July 
term of the Fayette County Court in 1789. By this 
deed Eichard Masterson and Sarah his wife trans- 
ferred to William Tyler "one hundred and fifty 
acres, being a part of the McConnel's settlement." 
His coming to Kentucky must, therefore, have been 
somewhere between 1779 and 1789. It was probably 
late in 1782. 

To William Tyler, and Letty his wife, nine chil- 
dren were born : Charles, May 27, 1775 ; Sally, Sep- 
tember 20, 1777; William, July 24, 1780; Benjamin, 

13 



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October 20, 1782; Ann, August 13, 1785; Susanah, 
December 1, 1789 ; Jessie, April 1, 1793 ; Mary, March 
19, 1795; and George, April 28, 1797. There is a 
trustworthy tradition that Benjamin was born in an 
Indian fort as they were emigrating to Kentucky. 

Dr. Kichard Spurr in writing of those early 
times says : "William Tyler was a pious, God-fearing 
man. He and his wife were members of the Meth- 
odist church. A meeting house was built near the 
fort and here they held their membership. When 
this house was no longer tenantable then stated meet- 
ings were held at the house of old Father Tyler, this 
being a point in the circuit." Ranck, in his history, 
says: "In 1787 the first Methodist church built in 
Kentucky (a log one) was erected at Masterson's 
Station, five miles northwest of Lexington, and in 
1790 the first annual conference of the church in 
Kentucky was held there and had the great and good 
Bishop Francis Asbury as its presiding officer." 

Benjamin Tyler, third son of William, was mar- 
ried to Susanah Shores and to them five children 
were born: John William, September 27, 1808; 
Jane, April 6, 1810; Charles, November 17, 1812; 
Susanah, May 4, 1815; and Benjamin George, No- 
vember 1, 1821. The daughters married brothers: 
Jane married Dr. William Warder Higgins, and Su- 
sanah married Harvey Higgins, after whom Hig- 
ginsville. Mo., was named. Jane died March 27, 
1846, and Susanah died July 3, 1854. John W. was 
married first to Elvira Oxley, June 18, 1831, and after 
her death was married to Sarah Roney, February 

14 



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28, 1839. Charles was married to Eliza Ellen Neal, 
August 22, 1839, and died at liis home in Bloomfield, 
Kentucky, October 14, 1887. Benjamin G. was mar- 
ried first to Mrs. Rebecca Smith {nee Cromwell) 
and after her death to Mrs. Sally Steadman. He 
died at his home near Lexington, Kentucky, April 1, 
1891. Dr. Spurr in writing of Benjamin Tyler, the 
father of John W., says: ''He was a model 
of industry and integrity, his word being con- 
sidered the equal of his bond. He was one 
of the best citizens of Fayette County. He 
was never known to take any intoxicating 
drinks; this was remarkable when we remember 
that at that time whiskey or brandy was kept in 
every house and their use was quite common. He 
was a strictly moral man, never known to use pro- 
fane language, was a man of peace, — in short, a 
model irreligious man until late in life (a period at 
which few persons ever make a change in habits), he 
became a devout member of the Cane Run Baptist 
church. He was a man of wonderful amount of com- 
mon sense. He never ceased during his long life to 
give his personal attention to his business and at his 
death he left a large estate." His death occurred 
May 2, 1870, his wife having died four years prior 
to that, — May 19, 1866. 

John W. Tyler, eldest son of Benjamin Tyler, 
was born September 27, 1808. The first settlers of 
Fayette County had made rapid and substantial 
progress. On the 26th of December, 1781, the trus- 

15 



tees of Lexington station had adopted a plan for the 
town. The first newspaper ever published west of 
the Alleghany mountains made its appearance in 
that town August 18, 1787. Lexington reached the 
zenith of her first period of prosperity in 1810. Log 
cabins were giving place to more commodious and 
comfortable dwellings. Schools were established in 
which rudimentary education might be had. The 
standard was not high. When one had learned to 
spell, to read, and to write legibly, had studied 
Pike's arithmetic to fractions and had acquired a 
smattering of Murray's English grammar he was 
thought to be fairly and sufficiently educated. Al- 
gebra, geography, etc., were not taught and were 
thought to be useless. This represents about the op- 
portunity John Tyler had to receive an education. 
Eev. D. P. Henderson, his class-mate in boyhood, 
says: "We were taught by very exacting teachers, 
who practically enforced discipline even by the rod 
under which most of us had often to pass. I have a 
vivid recollection of John Tyler. He was a quiet, 
studious, grave, industrious pupil. He made rapid 
progress in his studies. He was not so fond of 
youthful sports as many others, consequently his rec- 
itations were better, much better, than his class- 
mates. He enjoyed the confidence and love of the 
pupils." Another who attended school in boyhood 
with him has left this record: "He was an apt 
scholar, learned fast, stood about the head of his 
class, was a favorite with the scholars, engaged in 
all their games at play-time, was very active, fleet 

16 



of foot, peaceable, kind to all. Sometimes for six 
months at a time lie was not in school, and could not 
have been over fourteen years old when his school 
days ended and he went to work as a regular hand 
with his father on the farm. Then it took six days 
of work to fill up the week. Raising horses was quite 
a business with John's father, and on Sunday he al- 
ways had a good horse that he was breaking by rid- 
ing to church. He took great pleasure in hearing 
gifted speakers, both in the pulpit and on the stump, 
and had frequent opportunity of hearing such men 
as Henry Clay, John J. Crittenden, Tom Corwin, 
Tom Ewing, Robert Wickliffe and Robert J. Breck- 
enridge. He was always fond of company, would 
enjoy himself with old people as much as with those 
of his own age. He never took much interest in his 
dog or gun, or fishing-rod, but was always in the 
highest degree interested in either political or relig- 
ious discussions and would go whenever practicable 
to hear speakers of note." The boy was father to 
the man. 

The visit of General LaFayette to Lexington 
made a deep impression upon him. That was in 
May, 1825, when John was in his seventeenth year. 
His own uncle Charles had been a soldier in the war 
of the Revolution and was present. It was probably 
the grandest gathering ever seen in Lexington. An 
immense concourse of people from all parts of Ken- 
tucky and from several other states, companies of 
infantry, artillery, and cavalry, revolutionary sol- 
diers, distinguished strangers, members of all pro- 

17 



fessions went out to meet Mm. The announcement 
that the Marquis and suite were in sight was the sig- 
nal for round after round of deafening cheers, vol- 
leys of musketry and thunders of artillery. All this 
so thrilled the youthful John with military ambition 
that for a time his dreams were all of military glory. 
But he was destined for more peaceful, although not 
less honorable, pursuits. 

The terrible ravages of cholera in 1833 will ever 
keep that fatal year memorable in the annals of Lex- 
ington. It made its appearance the first of June 
and in less than ten days fifteen hundred persons 
were prostrated and dying at the rate of fifty a day. 
An indescribable panic seized the citizens, half of 
whom fled from the city, and those who remained 
were almost paralyzed with fear. It was an awful 
scourge, but not without its beneficial effects. Sad- 
dened and chastened, the city turned to religion for 
consolation, and in 1834 there was a great and wide- 
spread revival. It was shortly before this that the 
Cane Run Baptist church had been constituted by 
persons from the Town-fork, North Elkhorn, Great 
Crossings, and possibly other Baptist churches in the 
surrounding neighborhoods. Meetings were held 
statedly at a stand in the woods or at the home of 
some of the members. Prayer-meetings were held 
from house to house on Sunday evenings. These 
services were all attended with marked regularity by 
John Tyler. A meeting house was built and, upon 
its completion, the Rev. Jeremiah D. Black held a 
series of meetings which resulted in a large ingath- 

18 



ering into the church. Among the number was John 
Tyler. That was in the summer of 1834. He began 
at once to speak in the neighborhood meetings and 
soon entered upon the work of the ministry, in which 
he continued for fifty-four years. 

June 18, 1831, he was united in marriage to 
Elvira Oxley, a union broken seven years later by 
the hand of death. There were born, of this union, 
two sons and a daughter: Theodore M., Nancy J., 
and John W., Jr. Theodore died July 14, 1868. On 
February 28, 1839, he was united in marriage to 
Sarah Roney, a union which continued through al- 
most fifty years, and there were born, of this union, 
seven sons and four daughters : Benjamin Bushrod, 
April 9, 1840 ; Susan Frances, March 15, 1842 ; James 
Alexander, September 14, 1843; Barton Stone, Au- 
gust 19, 1845; Charles Willis, November, 1846; Jo- 
seph Zachary, October 10, 1848 ; Henry Clay, August 
16, 1850; Mary Edna, August 18, 1852; Elizabeth 
Ann, October 16, 1854; Charles Henry, August 19, 
1856; and Alice Sarah, April 27, 1859. Two died in 
early childhood:* Charles Willis in January, 1851, 
and Henry Clay, August 19, 1851. James A. died 
February 26, 1876. 

Sarah Roney, the wife of John W. Tyler, was 
born in Shelby County (now a part of Oldham Coun- 
ty), Kentucky, November 16, 1816. She was the 



*The two children who died in childhood and also the first wife, 
Elvira Oxley Tyler, and the oldest son, Theodore M., were buried in 
the family burying ground on the farm 5 miles east of Decatur. 
James A. was buried in the cemetery of Long Creek M. E. church, 
near the parental home of his wife. 

19 



fourth daughter of James Eoney and his wife Mary 
Aiken, both natives of Virginia. James Eoney was 
the eldest son of his widowed mother and the care 
of the family rested upon him. When quite a young 
man he came to Kentucky, secured land in Shelby 
County, cleared a small patch of ground, built a cab- 
in and returning to Virginia brought his mother and 
family to the new home. He and his brother Joseph 
became men of position and influence in the new 
settlement and were prosperous. He was married 
to Mary Aiken February 19, 1806, and to them were 
born six sons and eight daughters: John, Decem- 
ber 25, 1806 ; Joseph, March 3, 1808 ; James, October 
30, 1809 ; Matilda, July 11, 1811 ; Malinda, January 
12, 1813 ; Maria, December 15, 1814 ; Sarah, Novem- 
ber 16, 1816; Joshua, November 11, 1818; Eobert, 
September 5, 1820; Polly, August 5, 1822; Nancy, 
June 11, 1824; Louisa, November 6, 1826; Samuel, 
August 1, 1829; and Emaline, September 3, 1830. 
These were all born in Kentucky. 

The Eoney family removed to Shelby County, 
Illinois, in 1831, but the county was subsequent- 
ly divided, thus placing their home in Moultrie 
County. At the time of their leaving Kentucky 
Sarah was in the fifteenth year of her age. In 
her childhood she had been lamed and for some 
time went upon crutches. Of bright mind and hap- 
py disposition, her affliction naturally made her 
the pet of the family. She grew to young wo- 
manhood under the conditions and limitations of 
those primitive times. Her opportunities to at- 

20 



tend school were very meager, but her natural 
thirst for knowledge led her to drink of the fountains 
that spring by the wayside until she became a wom- 
an of information and possessed a wisdom which 
schools cannot confer. Her early religious training 
was among the Presbyterians. Her religion was 
not of the demonstrative kind. Her devotions flour- 
ished most in the sacred privacy of the closet. She 
was characterized by an enlightened faith, a rational 
reverence, strong convictions, genuine benevolence, 
charitable judgment, uncompromising conscientious- 
ness, and an unswerving devotion to duty in every 
relation in life. Her love of the beautiful did much 
to make her own life beautiful from its early dawn 
to its cloudless close. She was admirably fitted to 
be the wife of a pioneer and preacher. 

Upon his removal from Kentucky, in the fall of 
1834, John W. Tyler located for a short time in the 
northeastern part of Montgomery County, Indiana, 
and gave himself zealously to the work of the min- 
istry. He soon organized a church in that neigh- 
borhood with the very suggestive title, the ''Union 
Baptist Church of Christ." A letter granted him 
by that church in August, 1835, certifies to his being 
' ' a member and a regularly ordained minister of the 
gospel with us, in good standing and full fellowship, 
and since he joined us he has been constant, exer- 
cising a gift of exhortation and preaching with en- 
tire satisfaction to the church." Leaving Indiana 
he spent a few months in Morgan County, Illinois, to 
which a large number of persons from his section 

21 



of Kentucky had gone a year or two before, prom- 
inent among whom was that great revivalist and re- 
former, Barton W. Stone. The next year finds him 
in Macon County, where he established a home on 
the old farm five miles east of Decatur. Here most 
of the children were born and grew to manhood and 
womanhood. In 1872 the family moved to the N. 
Main St. residence in Decatur, and this continued to 
be his home until his tragic death, June 16, 1888. He 
was farmer, justice of the peace, school-master, and 
minister. His ministry was chiefly in the counties of 
Macon, Moultrie, Shelby, Piatt, Sangamon, and 
Christian. Most of the Christian churches in these 
counties were either planted by his personal minis- 
try or watered in their early years by his personal 
care and instruction. Antioch church, which was or- 
ganized by him and in which he preached for many 
years, was located on the edge of his farm, west of 
the home. With apostolic zeal he labored with his 
own hands that he might support himself while lay- 
ing the foundations upon which others were to build, 
and in his declining days he found his dearest joy 
in the increasing prosperity of those who continued 
the work he had so well begun. 

On Friday afternoon, June 15, 1888, in the public 
highway, near the old homestead and in the immedi- 
ate vicinity of Antioch church, he was fatally hurt by 
a kick from the horse he was driving. He lingered in 
unconsciousness until three o'clock next morning 
and then breathed his last. His faithful and be- 
loved wife survived him four years, — peacefully 

22 








.JS^I^si-'-l.'. -■'-'&• , 



closing her earthly career Tuesday morning, July 
26, 1892. A few extracts from the local press of the 
day will best indicate the esteem in which they were 
held by the community in which they had lived for 
half a century. In speaking of Father Tyler, the 
Herald said: ''He was frequently called to serve 
the people in official positions, and he discharged his 
duties with a fidelity which won the respect and con- 
fidence of all. Few men ever live to so great an age, 
and of few indeed can it be said that they leave a 
record so clear and so full of good works. He had 
unselfishly devoted much of his life to the Christian 
ministry, oftentimes receiving no remuneration for 
his work. He was a preacher, but in his own life 
his faith was manifested in good deeds." The 
Republican said: "He was one of the best known 
residents of the county and was greatly admired for 
his genial disposition and hospitable and sympa- 
thetic nature. He loved the truth, he loved his 
church and his family, and all his long life he has 
ever been found a true friend and a man of the 
strictest integrity. The whole community mourns 
his death." The Bulletin said: "He was a social 
favorite in his neighborhood, and was often honored 
with marks of personal confidence by repeated elec- 
tion to local office. He was not a politician, but he 
was interested in all questions that involved the pro- 
tection of public morals. The sanctity of the Sab- 
bath and temperance reform were to him matters of 
political as well as moral faith, and were maintained 
always, without regard to the effect upon his parti- 
san friends." 

23 



The National Missionary Convention of the Dis- 
ciples of Christ in annual session, Oct., 1888, placed 
upon record the following brief, but fitting memorial : 

''John W. Tyler of Decatur, 111., a man of strong 
faith, firm in his conviction, yet sweet in spirit. For 
more than half a century and through almost num- 
berless difficulties, he preached the glorious gospel 
of Christ, and exhibited before all men the beauty 
of a blameless life. To the very end he was a grow- 
ing man — he grew in knowledge, in love, and in 
peace." 

Speaking of Mrs. Tyler, at the time of her death, 
the Revieiv said: "The death of Mrs. Tyler marks 
the close of a rarely useful life. Grandly and cheer- 
fully did she perform the work that fell along her 
pathway. No one was ever known to speak ill of 
her and no woman had as many friends in the city. 
The same thoughtful regard for others that has 
marked her whole life characterized her last days. 
She was one woman among a thousand." The Bul- 
letin said: ''To know this dear woman was to love 
and adore one of the purest and sweetest of Chris- 
tian characters. Her calm quietude mingled ever in 
social and business relations, her pleasing and gra- 
cious nature won every heart, and her loving tender- 
ness in ministering to others lifted them to a higher 
plane. Such grace is not the product of a day, but 
is the natural fruition of patient living through the 
mingled joys and sorrows of life." The Herald- 
Despatch said: "The life of this truly good woman 
is like an open page upon which there appears no 

24 



blot. From the beginning to the end it is a record 
of Christian virtue and Christian faith which have 
never wavered during a long and useful life. It was 
a life that made the world better for having been, 
and will leave a mark in years to come. ' ' 

The mortal remains of these long and honored 
residents of Macon County rest in the beautiful 
Greenwood Cemetery adjoining the city of Decatur, 
and the spot is fitly marked by a solid block of 
granite with simple epitaph. 



25 



FUNERAL SERVICES 

Decatub, III., June 19, 1888 

The funeral services were held in the Christian 
church, which was at that time located on the cor- 
ner of N. Main and North Streets, opposite the 
Tyler residence. 

The following was the order of the exercises:- 
Hymn — ''How Firm a Foundation." 
Scripture Lesson — I Cor. 15 :35-38. 

Eead by Rev. W. W. Weedon, Pastor Christian 
Church, Taylorville. 
Prayer — By Rev. George B. Vosburgh, D. D., Pastor 

First Baptist Church, Decatur. 
Hymn — ''Asleep in Jesus." 

Sermon — By Rev. T. W. Pinkerton, Pastor Chris- 
tian Church, Decatur. 
Remarks — By Rev. W. H. Prestly, D. D., Pastor 

First Presbyterian Church, Decatur. 
Remarks — By Rev. N. S. Haynes, Pastor Christian 

Church, Peoria. 
Closing Prayer — By Rev. A. P. Cobb, Decatur. 
Hymn — "Jesus, Lover of My Soul." 



26 



ABSTRACTS OF ADDRESSES 

Abstract of the sermon preached by T. W. Pinker- 
ton, AT THE FUNERAL OF JOHN W. TyLER, IN THE 

Christian church,, Decatur, Illinois, June 
19, 1888. 

Thou shall come lo thy grave in a full age, like 
as a shock of corn cometh in his season. Job v:26. 

I am well aware that in an hour like this there 
is little that should be said. The soul wants to be 
left alone with God. There are no words so sooth- 
ing to the heart in the hours of sorrow as the words 
of God. 

As I contemplate this life that has gone out so 
suddenly, I know not whether it is better to sorrow 
or rejoice. If it were not for the manner of its 
going, we would say rejoice, for an aged pilgrim has 
completed his journey and has found rest. 

The text suggests a beautiful analogy between 
the growth of the plant and the growth and develop- 
ment of human life and character, first, in the very 
smallness of the beginning. How little a thing is 
the seed, and yet it contains the germ of a great 
tree or a beautiful flower; how small and unprom- 
ising is our life in the beginning, and yet it contains 
a germ that is susceptible of the fullest development. 

27 



This is the spring-time of life ; there are many ad- 
verse influences at work to check the growth ; never- 
theless we here begin the gathering of that strength 
which is necessary to the larger unfolding. The 
seed is subjected to the disadvantages of the early 
spring, but it, too, gathers force from the earth, air 
and light for its larger and fuller growth. The foun- 
dation is laid in early life for all that is to follow. 
Then comes the summer, with its storm and toil 
and burning heat. This is necessary to the maturing 
of the fruit. 

Father Tyler came to Illinois more than half a 
century ago, when this part of the state was almost 
a trackless waste, but with a heart manly and honest, 
he took up life's burdens, and bore them faithfully 
to the end. His life was full of toil, but with un- 
faltering steps he kept pace with every advancement. 
He did more perhaps, than any man now living to 
establish the cause of Christ in this part of our com- 
monwealth, and this he did at no little cost. Amid 
the snows of winter and under the burning heat of 
the summer's sun, he moved steadily forward in the 
discharge of the sacred trust committed to his hands 
by the great Head of the church. 

After the summer comes the autumn. One of 
our poets has said ''The saddest of the year," but 
methinks to the reflective mind the earth is gorgeous 
in its funeral drapery. God varies the hues of death 
as it descends upon hill and vale, rendering the 
decay of nature scarcely less beautiful than its ren- 
ovation. 

28 



How exquisitely beautiful is the fruit as it hangs 
in golden clusters ready to be gathered! So it is 
with old age, the autumn of human life. He who 
grows old beautifully is an honor to his being. 

Father Tyler grew old gracefully and tenderly. 
His gray hairs were a crown of glory. He was 
indeed a ripened sheaf, ready for the garner of God, 
and while his sun went down suddenly its setting 
was without shadows. 

The plant has not finished its purpose in the 
economy of God's law, when ripened, but goes on 
reproducing itself an hundred fold. So of the life 
of him whose memory we honor to-day. While his 
tongue is silent, his lips closed, and his body moul- 
ders back again to the dust from whence it came, 
he will continue to speak through the lives of his 
children, and those whom he has begotten by the 
gospel. 

There were many things in his life of which I 
would like to speak, but I only have time to mention 
those which impressed me most. He was a man of 
unwavering faith in God. I never knew a man of 
more intense convictions or unswerving fidelity to 
the gospel of Christ, and yet with it all he was 
sweet-spirited, broad and liberal. While he be- 
longed to a generation that has largely ceased to 
exist, he lived in the present. His life was a beau- 
tiful illustration of God's purpose, summer suc- 
ceeded the spring, and autumn the summer in reg- 
ular order. He uttered no sigh of regret for the 
days that were gone, but like the brave and cheerful 

29 



soul that he was, he adjusted himself to the living 
present. His work is done, he rests from his labors, 
and is at peace. 

To you who sorrow to-day I can only say, * ' Cast 
thy burden on the Lord. ' ' May God fold you to his 
heart and give to you rest. 



Eev. W. H. Prestly, D. D., Pastor First Pres- 
byterian church, spoke thus : 

When I first became acquainted with Bro. Tyler 
he had passed through the springtime and the sum- 
mer of his life, and was enjoying its fruitful autumn, 
that rich and glorious season, when in nature the 
life-work of the year is completed ; when the fruitage 
becomes ripe and mellow amid the various-tinted 
foliage ; when the sun hastens to his setting, and the 
days grow shorter, and everything invites to rest 
and repose. He had reached the allotted sj^an of 
' ' three score years and ten, ' ' and the fruitage of his 
life-work was enriching his mind and his heart. And 
were I to sum up in a word or two the results of 
the work of divine grace in his life, as that life im- 
presses me to-day, it would be peace and joy. 

In years he was an old man, but his heart was 
sunny and bright as in the springtime of life. He 
had reached, "by reason of more strength," the 
limit laid down by the Psalmist ; and yet he was not 
bowed down by the weight of years, as this burden 
weighs down so many. There seemed to be no 
clouds ever and anon rising on the eastern horizon 
of his life to obscure and darken the sun of that life 

30 



as it was sinking lower and lower in the west. He 
was ever to me the happy old Christian ; ever saying 
something bright and cheering; and for some years 
the mornings have been few in which I have not met 
him as he was busy about the yard surrounding his 
home. Too frequently we find old age a period of 
regret and repining, of murmuring and complain- 
ing ; but it was not so with him. He had laid up in 
his heart much of the light and warmth of the sum- 
mer of his life, and these came out beautifully in the 
autumn of his days. Just as it always ought to be. 
Just what the religion of Jesus, the blessed ''Sun 
of Righteousness," is designed to make life. Not a 
dark and somber thing, but that which is bright, 
beautiful and attractive. 

''Uncle John," as I learned familiarily to call 
him, was a broad, liberal-minded Christian. During 
all the years of our social intercourse, I can recall 
to-day no remark of his that would lead me to be- 
lieve that anything of a sectarian spirit predom- 
inated in him. And yet none doubted, who knew 
him, that he had his deep, strong convictions of 
what was true and right, as we have heard this 
morning, and he had the courage to maintain them. 

But he has gone out from us, leaving behind 
this deeply widowed yet loving heart, and these sad, 
fatherless children, who can rise up and call him 
blessed, and the many sorrowing friends who have 
loved and honored him. But he has left so much 
that is bright and hopeful, and so much to comfort 
and sustain these, even while dead saying to them, 

31 



as memory traverses the fields of the past, *'Be ye 
followers of me as I was of Christ." 

He has been taken from ns very suddenly. And 
when I heard of his sudden death, a scene came to 
me again which once I witnessed on the shores of one 
of our great northern lakes. It was the scene of a 
glorious sunset, and I was admiring the great waves 
of light as they came to me pulsating over the vast 
mirror of waters, when for a second the sun seemed 
to stand still on the very rim of the horizon, and the 
next instant it was gone, just suddenly dropped out 
of sight. So to me went out this ''lower light" of 
life only to rise more brightly on the horizon of the 
world beyond. 

Let him who crawls, enamored of decay, 
Cling to his couch and sicken years away, 
Heave his thick breath, and shake his palsied head — 
Oiirs the fresh turf, and not the feverish bed; 
While, gasp by gasp, he falters forth his soul, 
Ours with one pang, one bound, escapes control. 



Kev. N. S. Haynes, pastor of the Christian 
church, Peoria, 111., was formerly pastor in Decatur. 
In speaking of Father Tyler, he said: 

Into the man whose death we mourn to-day God 
put a mighty impulse. Born and reared amid the 
stormy and adverse conditions incident everywhere 
to the barbarous institution of human slavery, he 
grew like a cedar on the mountains of Lebanon, 
comely and symmetrical. More than half a century 
has elapsed since he came to make his home in Illi- 

32 



nois. Our state was new then. The plowshare had 
not yet pierced the prairie soil and the wild deer 
fed in every cornfield. Its conditions were all prim- 
itive, its opportunities for social progress exceed- 
ingly circumscribed. 

With the vicissitudes of pioneer life he was fa- 
miliar. Through all of those far-away hardships, 
and through all the succeeding years of marvelous 
development, he grew like an oak in the primeval 
forests — strong, majestic and well-grounded. Con- 
sider the adverse and comparatively circumscribed 
conditions of his early life, and then the noble char- 
acter that will be held in tender remembrance for 
decades to come in this community, and we must 
say that not more than one man in a million runs so 
well along time's pathway. To say that he had 
imperfections is only to say that he was human and 
not divine. 

His convictions were earnest, thorough, radical. 
In Christian truth and obligations they were to him 
the voice of God in his soul saying ' ' Thou oughtest. ' ' 
Yet he accorded to every one the deference and re- 
spect that he would himself receive. In this splen- 
did Christian presence I feel that he belonged as 
much to you as to us — so fraternal was he. He 
lived abreast of the times — in the last rather than 
in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. 

His heart was full of faith, and hope, and love. 
A useful and good life is rounded out with four score 
years, and he comes to his grave as a little child 

33 



falls to sleep. Blessed be his memory ; peace to his 
sacred dust. 



The Daily Herald, Wednesday, June 20, 1888, 
contained the following: 

The obsequies of Elder John W. Tyler were held 
yesterday forenoon. Opportunity was given to view 
the remains from 8 to 9 o'clock and scores of people 
called at the family residence on North Main street 
to look for the last time upon the face of the good 
and kind old man whom all held in such high esteem. 
The remains rested in a handsomely draped cloth 
covered casket, which was partially hidden by white 
roses, lilies and floral emblems. At 10 o'clock the 
remains were removed to the Christian church, 
where the funeral service was held. The church 
was crowded with people. Many were unable to ob- 
tain even standing room. The service opened with 
the singing of the hymn, "How Firm a Foundation," 
by the Christian church choir. Rev. Vosburgh, of 
the Baptist church, offered prayer and the choir 
sang "Jesus Lover of My Soul." 

Rev. T. W. Pinkerton chose as his text the fa- 
miliar passage from Job: "Thou shalt come to thy 
grave in a full age like as a shock of corn cometh in 
his season." 

When Mr. Pinkerton had concluded, remarks 
were made by Rev. W. H. Prestly, pastor of the 
Presbyterian church, and by Rev. N. S. Haynes, 
formerly pastor of the Christian church of Decatur. 

34 



The service ended with prayer offered by Elder 
Weeden, of Taylorville. 

The remains were interred in Greenwood ceme- 
tery with simple rites. The pall bearers were Judge 
W. E. Nelson, J. Q. A. Odor, W. L. Hammer, James 
Dingman, Wm. Berks, W. E. Scruggs, J. R. Gorin 
and T. A. Pritchett. 

Our community has lost a good and useful man, 
but the good effect of his example will long remain 
with us. Peace to his ashes, honor to his memory, 
rest to his soul! 



35 



SOME OTHER TRIBUTES 

He was a remarkable man, not only, nor chiefly 
because of his vigorous mind and powerful constitu- 
tion, but because of his cheerful, sunny disposition 
and the rare spiritual graces which adorned his life. 
His was the unconscious cheerfulness of the child, 
that can no more explain its happiness than the robin 
can tell why it sings. The conditions of his early 
life, like those of any pioneer, were hard and forbid- 
ding. Yet I question if ever they so appeared to 
him. Other men might complain because they were 
not more fortunately situated. He thanked God that 
he was not worse off. 

Back of the last and subtlest analysis there is 
this unexplored remainder, this radical difference in 
disposition. In olden times men sought to explain 
this difference by the favor or disfavor of some god. 
Our words ''fortune" and ''misfortune" may run 
back to this ancient idea. The modern mind sees in 
all this, only the influence of heredity. But since 
we cannot choose our ancestors, it is more than a 
figure of speech to say that a certain man was for- 
tunate in being born with this rare and blessed en- 
dowment. And this was the good fortune of John 
"W. Tyler. 

36 



For nearly sixty years he preached the gospel. 
In this capacity he served the church in Decatur while 
it yet met in the primitive log court house. He or- 
ganized many congregations in Macon, Moultrie, 
Piatt, Christian, Sangamon and other counties in 
Central Illinois; baptizing thousands. "In labors 
more abundant than they all," he never boasted of 
his achievements nor sought to display his trophies. 
The two sons he gave to our ministry would of them- 
selves sufficiently repay any man's life of devotion. 
Yet when asked how he had managed to rear two 
boys for the ministry his modest reply was : "I can- 
not tell. You must ask mother. She had more to do 
with it than I had." All honor to the aged mother 
now stricken with grief. May the Lord raise up 
more mothers emulous of such a life-mission ! 

Father Tyler was a modest man. He did not 
seek notice. He shunned observation. One may 
look in vain through our papers during half a cen- 
tury of publication for a single notice from his pen 
of his meeting and work. A score of incidents might 
easily be adduced, illustrating his unselfishness. 

No one ever forgot him as he appeared in 
prayer. Brethren in New York City, where he had 
visited his son, Rev. B. B. Tyler, spoke to me 
again and again about his prayers. And truly his 
unction and fervor in prayer reminded me of the 
phrase of the Apostle James: "The effectual, fer- 
vent prayer of a righteous man. ' ' His life was cen- 
tered in Christ. He had no plans, no ambition in 
life, except to serve Christ and humanity. Jealousy 



and envy never scorched and scarred his soul. He 
spent his life in serving, not in seeking to be served. 
The humblest lad, as I tearfully remember, 
found a friend in this loving and lovable man. And 
nothing can more finely illustrate the Christ-like 
spirit of this saintly man than this reply to a state- 
ment of mine in a conversation a few weeks before 
his death, in fact the last time I saw him on earth. 
I had said to him : ' ' You were the means of bright- 
ening my boyhood days by the kind words you spoke 
at the time when an orphan boy receives few enough 
kind words." He looked surprised and said: "I 
don't remember it!" "Then indeed shall the right- 
eous say: Lord when saw we thee an hungered 
and fed thee, and thirsty and gave thee drink! And 
the King shall answer and say unto them: Verily I 
say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one 
of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it 
unto me." — A. P. Cobb^ in Christian Evangelist, 
July 12, 1888. 

That sweet and saintly man so recently gone 
from us. Elder John W. Tyler, deserves to be held 
in grateful and loving remembrance by the whole 
brotherhood. In giving to it two such noble sons 
as B. B. and J. Z. Tyler he has laid us all under ob- 
ligation. But on my own part there are more per- 
sonal grounds for gratitude and love and tears. 
Our acquaintanceship began some twenty years ago, 
and more, while I was in my first pastorate, in the 
neighborhood where he had preached and had ac- 
quired unquestioned supremacy and influence. I re- 

38 



member with what a kindly smile he said to me, ''A 
young preacher needs backing, sir; he needs back- 
ing." And he gave it to me, in public and in pri- 
vate, and made me feel almost equal for anything 
in the way of honorable achievement. Often since 
I have enjoyed his hospitality, and that of his worthy 
wife and helpmeet, in their pleasant home in Decatur, 
and I can bear testimony that with him, as the au- 
tumn of life rounded out, ripening was not drying 
or decaying, but mellowing and sweetening. — B. J. 
Kadford, in Christian Standard, July 7, 1888. 



LETTER FROM R. J. SPURR, M. D., A BOYHOOD FRIEND 

Greendale, Fayette Co., Ky., 

Sept. 20, 1888. 
Rev. J. Z. Tyler. 

Dear Brother : Yours of the 5th inst. received 
and I take the first quiet, leisure moment to reply 
to it. Your inquiries take me back to my boyhood 
and early manhood. 

William Tyler, the grandfather of Rev. John 
W. Tyler of Decatur, 111., was an early emigrant 
from Virginia to Kentucky, and made his home 
for a time with his small family in Masterson's 
Station, 5 miles N. W. of Lexington. This was a 
stockade fort and was situated upon the farm upon 
which I was born and upon which I reside. Here 
William Tyler lived until it was considered safe to 
leave the fort, when he purchased the small farm 
three fourths of a mile from the fort, where he lived 

39 



until Ms death in 1843. I knew him intimately, 
and he has often related many incidents of his early 
life in Kentucky, one only of which I will relate 
here. When he bought his land, he at once set to 
work to build a cabin, into which to move his 
wife and little children. He selected a spot near a 
spring and then cut the nearest trees of suitable 
size for his purpose ; when the logs were ready, men 
from the fort assisted him in raising his house and 
finishing it for occupancy, every man having his 
trusty rifle close at hand, to meet any emergency. 
His cabin was made strong and the floor was made 
of split logs, hewn on one side, — this was called 
a puncheon floor. 

After moving his family to his cabin the ques- 
tion confronted him as to how to procure bread for 
his wife and children; he had no cleared land upon 
which to raise Indian corn, so he rented from Rich- 
ard Masterson a small field near the fort, at fifteen 
shillings Virginia money ($2.50) per acre and 
ground the corn when produced, upon a hand mill of 
domestic make, using the common limestone of prop- 
er size and thickness for the purpose. Meat for the 
family was procured from the game, which was 
abundant, in the woods. This gives you some faint 
idea of the energetic stock from which your father 
descended. * * * * 

Benjamin Tyler, the son of William Tyler and 
his wife, was born at the home of his father, was 
reared upon the farm without opportunity, in such 
pioneer conditions, to attend school ; he was married 

40 



to Susannah Shores, he having previously, by indus- 
try and economy, become possessed of ten acres of 
land, upon which he lived to the time of his death, 
at which time he owned a large estate. * * * * 

One little incident, which he related to the writ- 
er, may have had much to do in shaping his char- 
acter; when nearly grown, he had by industry and 
saving got together enough money to buy a new sad- 
dle. His older brother, Charles, who was inclined 
to be wild, induced him to go with him to George- 
town one Saturday evening and when they arrived 
there they hitched their horses on the street ; after 
nightfall Charles got to drinking and also into a 
fight, which was common in Kentucky at that day. 
Benjamin became disgusted, went to his horse to 
start home, found his saddle was gone, had been 
stolen. From that day he never went into such com- 
pany, nor was he ever known to take any intoxicat- 
ing drinks ; this was remarkable, when in every house 
whiskey or brandy was kept and at every house 
raising, corn husking, or log rolling these were as 
common as water. * * * * He was always a respecter 
of religion and frequently attended religious ser- 
vices and was always present on funeral occasions. 

His conversion is worthy of note. A pro- 
tracted meeting was being held at Cane Eun Bap- 
tist church in January, 1858, Eev. James Frost, 
pastor, the preaching being by Eev. William Pratt, 
D. D. Many were being added to the church 
and among those in regular attendance upon the 
meeting were Benjamin Tyler, and James Gaines, 

41 



both being over three score and ten years old, 
and the writer, nearly fifty. A deep revival 
feeling permeated the entire mass of persons in at- 
tendance, but the meeting closed and none of the 
parties named, although deeply moved, had made a 
confession of Christ. During the succeeding week 
James Gaines called upon the writer to know if he 
would go with him the next Sunday to church and 
make a profession of faith in Christ; the answer 
was, ''Yes, gladly; let us go see neighbor Tyler and 
take him with us, or entreat him to go with us." 
We found him at home and Brother Gaines with 
eyes filled with tears and a faltering voice told him 
of our mission; he at once said, *'I will gladly go 
with you." Upon the following Sabbath, the 18th 
of January, 1858, the three, when the doors of the 
church were opened, presented themselves for mem- 
bership and were baptized that day by the pastor, 
into the name of the Father, and of the Son and of 
the Holy Ghost. Of the three, two have long since 
gone to their reward. One little incident occurred 
on that memorable Sabbath day which demonstrated 
to some extent the integrity of the character of our 
brother Tyler; when asked by the pastor if he had 
a love for the brethren, his answer was, ''Yes, but 
some much better than others." This question was 
drawn out by the hesitancy of Brother Tyler to lay 
hold of the promises of Christ — he felt too un- 
worthy to claim the name of Christian. * * * * 

John Tyler and the writer had about the same 
opportunities of receiving a common English educa- 

42 



tion and attended generally the same schools to- 
gether. The opportunties for farmers' sons to re- 
ceive education were very limited. * * * * 

His opinions upon all subjects were of the most 
decided character. In politics he was an ardent 
Whig and a devoted friend of Henry Clay; in re- 
ligious opinion he was inclined to the Baptists, but 
was repelled by the old Iron-side doctrine of predes- 
tination and election, as taught by that people. On 
one occasion he was present at an open air meeting 
in a grove, which I think was in 1828 ; the Rev. Dr. 
James Fishback occupied the pulpit and in the course 
of his sermon he made the declaration that he be- 
lieved, from the teaching of God's word, that there 
were infants in Hell not a span long, — putting his 
hand upon the table before him and measuring a 
span. This declaration fell very harshly upon my 
young friend's ears, for he believed that Jesus had 
paid the debt of original transgression and that in- 
fants that had died previous to a knowledge of right 
and wrong were saved by and through the merits of 
Jesus Christ, being cleansed from all pollution by 
the blood shed on the Cross. 

It was about this time, or shortly before, that 
Cane Run church was constituted by persons with- 
drawing their membership from Town Fork, North 
Elkhorn, Great Crossings and possibly other Bap- 
tist churches, on account of dissatisfaction with the 
doctrines which were taught in those churches. They 
had no house in which to worship and they either 
held their meetings statedly at a stand in the woods, 

43 



or at the home of some of the members ; in addition 
to this each Sabbath evening they held prayer meet- 
ings from house to house. About all of these meet- 
ings were attended by John Tyler and the writer in 
company. During this time a great revival perme- 
ated the bounds of this church and a large number, 
upon a profession of faith in Christ Jesus, were bap- 
tized into its fellowship; amongst the number was 
Elvira Oxley, who subsequently became the first wife 
of our friend. The preaching was by Kev. Thomas 
Fisher. The year after the completion of the church 
building, a meeting was held by Rev. J. D. Black 
and among the number of converts was John Tyler, 
who was immersed by Bro. Black and received into 
the fellowship of Cane Run church. 

The writer knew but little of John personally 
after this time, being absent from the locality until 
his removal to Illinois, but from information, can 
state that shortly after his connection with the 
church he commenced in neighborhood meetings to 
exhort with zeal those that were present. The writer 
can state confidently, from a close and intimate asso- 
ciation (for we were almost inseparable when from 
home), that he never knew a more worthy young 
man raised in the community. He never knew him 
to use profane language, nor to take a drink of in- 
toxicating liquor, nor to visit houses of gambling. 
He was the soul of honor, truthful, honest, just, lib- 
eral, not given to anger, esteemed by all persons as 
a citizen following in the footsteps of his father. Is 
it any wonder, that with such antecedents, God called 

44 



him to the ministry of his Word, and that He gave 
multitudes of souls for his hire? Blessed be God 
that he so honored the most intimate friend of my 
life and may His richest blessings attend the foot- 
steps of his offspring. 

One word for old Uncle Dick, the colored family 
servant and intimate daily associate of the subject 
of this paper ; a better man never lived in these lat- 
ter days. No doubt his example and conversation 
had something to do, under God's blessing, in direct- 
ing our friend's mind to the Saviour. 

Very truly yours, 

R. J. Spukr, M. D. 



LETTER FROM REV. D. P. HENDERSON, A BOYHOOD FRIEND 

Canton, Mo., July, 1888. 
Elder J. Z. Tyler, 

Cincinnati, Ohio. 
My Deae Beother : 

Your letter of June 28 was received. You ask 
me to ''prepare some recollections of your father 
and an estimate of his character and work, ' ' adding 
that ' ' he and you were boys together and he always 
entertained a fond attachment for you. ' ' 

Yes, we ''were boys together" more than sev- 
enty years ago, attending the same school, reciting 
in the same classes, born and reared within a few 
miles of each other in Fayette County, near Lexing- 
ton, Kentucky. 

Among my schoolmates I have a vivid recollec- 
tion of your father, his brother Charles and the chil- 

45 



dren of the McDowells, Spurrs, Oxleys, Stouts, Eun- 
nions, Houghtons, Paynes, Piersons, Cromwells, 
Keisers and others. Dr. Joseph N. McDowell and 
Dr. Richard Spurr were among our classmates. 

tF tF ^ tF tp tt tP 

Kentucky chivalry in those days was infused in- 
to our young minds and our memories taxed to their 
utmost limit; our lessons had to be carefully studied 
and prepared and all the tables and rules mem- 
orized. For years we were especially drilled in 
orthography and most of the advanced classes could 
repeat every word in the spelling book from which 
we were taught. The pupil that could not spell well 
was in standing below zero. * * * * 

We were for many years intimately acquainted ; 
but our intimacy to some extent ceased when my 
father selected "Cane Run Seminary" to be my 
future school. My associations were changed from 
the old Brick school-house on the Lexington and 
Georgetown road to my new school on the Henry's 
Mill road. The old Brick school house where your 
father and myself spent so many days together still 
stands, and around it gather many, many pleas- 
ant memories. 

The foundation of our education was laid there 
in Dilworth's and Webster's spelling books, which 
we memorized. The book we read was the Introduc- 
tion to the English reader. Our grammar was 
Lindley Murray, in which we were thoroughly in- 
structed by competent teachers. Your father prof- 

46 



ited by it in after years and, although not a finished 
classical scholar, he kept pace with the progress of 
the age. 

Our lines diverged somewhat, after parting. 
Tired of the institution of slavery, earnestly in love 
with freedom, we pitched our tents westward, he in 
Macon County, and I in Morgan County, Illinois. 

In July, 1832, 1 united with the Church of Christ 
in Georgetown, Ky. In October of the same year, in 
company with eighty-seven brethren and sisters, we 
organized the Church of Christ in Jacksonville, Illi- 
nois, and from that day to this, I have tried to fol- 
low in the footsteps of my Master, Jesus the Christ, 
wearing His name and His only. Fifty-seven years 
I have preached Christ and Him crucified. 

Your father confessed his faith in the Lord 
Jesus much earlier and united with the Cane Run 
Baptist church in Kentucky. After careful, prayer- 
ful study of the Word of God, he decided to take 
the Bible and the Bible only as his rule of faith and 
practice, eschew all human creeds and confessions, 
and we found ourselves, one in Faith, Hope and 
Love, striving together for that '^ faith once de- 
livered" to all Christians. How he worked day and 
night to support his growing family, how he toiled 
in preaching Christ crucified, the older brethren of 
central Illinois can testify. 

Ten years ago last November I was his guest 
for some two weeks in Decatur. We lived over the 
past of our lives, found it exceedingly pleasant in 
reviewing former times and comparing labors. 

47 



Never while I enjoy my memory, will I forget the 
Christian hospitality of Brother and Sister Tyler 
and their daughters. We met after an absence of 
very many years and we parted in Decatur no more 
to meet in this vale of tears. He sleeps, I trust, 
sweetly in the bosom of his Lord and awaits our 
coming. His works follow him and it is a source 
of pleasure and joy to recount them. 

He has left you, dear brother, and your brother 
B. B., standing on the walls of Zion, laboring for 
the conversion of sinners and the eternal salvation 
of Christians ; workmen, such as Timothy, to preach 
the Word, rightly divide it, in season, out of sea- 
son, to work for Jesus. His firmness, his kindness, 
his hospitality, his intelligence are better appreci- 
ated by his companion and children than could be 
painted by the liveliest imagination or by the most 
facile pen. Self-sacrificing, industrious, indefa- 
tigable in labor, preaching Jesus and Him crucified, 
without money or earthly reward, a crown awaits 
him when the Lord shall sit in judgment. 

In conclusion, I must say that Bro. Tyler, among 
the early advocates of the Eestoration of Primitive 
Christianity stands, and will stand, a brilliant ex- 
ample, for steadfastness, for courage, for personal 
piety, in defending the truth as it is in Jesus. No 
trimmer was he, no conservative in Christianity ; but 
open, frank, truthful and honest. 

Peace to his memory! Comfort to his widow 
and children ! Yours in Christ, 

D. P. Henderson. 

48 



EXTRACT FROM LETTER FROM REV. DAVID GAY 

Pastoe of Long Creek M. E. Church (1888) regard- 
ing THE LAST Sunday service in which John W. 
Tyler participated. 

The day (June 10, 1888) set apart for espe- 
cial services for the children at Long Creek M. E. 
church was a delightful one and thorough prepara- 
tion had been made for the exercises. By 10 a. m. 
the church was packed ; just before commencing the 
exercises the pastor learned that the Christian 
church at Antioch had dismissed their services in 
order to attend the services at Long Creek. He 
sought Rev. J. W. Tyler, the pastor of Antioch 
church, and cordially invited him to a seat on the 
platform, which invitation was as cordially accepted ; 
the seat, however, being behind the speakers. Elder 
Tyler asked and was given a seat in the aisle in 
front of the platform where he could better hear and 
see. He was much interested in the exercises and 
showed his approval by smiles and words of com- 
mendation. Near the close of the exercises the pas- 
tor of the church, who was to give a ten minutes 
address, said there was a white-haired boy in the 
house, — a very bashful boy, — who was not too 
bashful, he hoped, to make a little speech, and so 
he, the pastor, would give up his ten minutes to let 
the audience hear from the 80-year-old-boy. 

In response Elder Tyler came forward and ad- 
dressed the audience in substance, as follows; 

■^'Dear Christian friends, I suppose I am the 
white-haired boy, mentioned by your pastor. I take 

49 



great pleasure in being here and in having the priv- 
ilege of talking to you a little. I came here not ex- 
pecting to speak and had but a few moments' notice 
that I would be called on, and then was not given 
a topic upon which to talk. But it seems that any- 
one ought not to be at a loss to speak on this great 
Sunday school question, it is so varied and far- 
reaching. 

*'I have been delighted with these exercises; I 
am always pleased to meet the children and with 
them to study God's Word or engage in any kind 
of religious exercises, and this day's service has 
been unusually pleasant and profitable to me. I look 
back to when I was a boy and regretfully remember 
that no such advantages were mine as belong to you ; 
no such notice was then taken of the children. Such 
a service as this was never dreamed of, nor the 
idea of setting apart a day which was to be wholly 
given up to the children. We had no such instruc- 
tion as you receive. Wonderful improvements have 
been made and wonderful advancement and I am 
thankful to our Heavenly Father that I live in an 
age where more attention is paid to childhood and 
it is more and more reahzed that 'as the twig is 
bent, the tree's inclined.' I am thankful that moral 
and educational forces are at work which are lift- 
ing up the world and making it better. 

''One thing especially gives me pleasure today, 
and that is, that here we seem to forget all de- 
nominational differences and worship as a common 
family before a common Father, and in this family 



50 



not the least important are the babes whose voices 
we have heard this hour. It is a great pleasure to 
me to be so cordially welcomed here and to realize 
that we all as brothers and sisters love each other. 
Once more I wish to express my delight at being in 
this assembly of children, surrounded with these 
flowers, listening to the songs of these birds and the 
more beautiful songs of intelligent beings." Elder 
Tyler closed with a few telling words in favor of pro- 
hibition and in his characteristic manner showed his 
keen wit in repartee with the pastor of the church. 



51 



ANCESTORS BACK TO THE 17TH CENTURY 

Those who have made genealogical research in 
the Tyler family find it difficult to reach a conclusion 
as to whether the ancestry of John W. Tyler is 
through the York County, Virginia, line or the West- 
moreland County, Virginia, line. It is known from 
records now in the possession of the family that 
William Tyler, the grandfather of John W. Tyler, 
migrated from Virginia to Fayette County, Ken- 
tucky, in 1782. 

I. The York Co., Va., line as given in Lyon G. Tyler's 
Letters and Times of the Tylers, is as follows : 

Henry Tyler (1), a reputed native of Shropshire, 
England, is mentioned first in the York County, Va., rec- 
ords in 1645. He patented 254 acres at Middle Plantation 
Jan. 7, 1652, and later received a certificate from York 
Court for 1800 acres. He lived on the outskirts of what 
is now the city of Williamsburg, Va. Children: Henry 
(2), John and Daniel. 

Henry Tyler (2), son of Henry (1), was a man of 
prominence in the colony. He held offices of trust and 
responsibility in York County, and was church warden and 
vestryman of the Bruton parish. Married Elizabeth Chiles. 
Children: John, Francis, Henry (3), Elizabeth and Anne. 

Henry Tyler (3) received by will the ancestral home- 
stead, but in 1752 went to Sussex Co. to live. He died 

52 



Jan. 2, 1774. His will, dated in 1772, divides his property 
between his godson John Tyler and his nephew William 
Tyler. This WiUiam Tyler is thought by some to be the 
William Tyler, grandfather of John W. Tyler, who mi- 
grated to Kentucky. 

The York Co. line has been worked out with much 
care by Lyon G. Tyler, President of William and Mary Col- 
lege, Williamsburg, Va., and a son of John Tyler, tenth 
President of the U. S., who was of the York Co. family. 
Those interested in genealogical research should consult his 
book entitled Letters arid Times of the Tylers. Any 
research regarding Virginia families will require an ex- 
amination of Hayden's Virginia Genealogies and other 
Virginia genealogical books and records. 

II. The Westmoreland Co., Va., line was being 
worked out by Mr. W. I. Tyler Brigham, a genealogist 
of the Tyler family at the time of his death several years 
ago, and is still in manuscript form. The Genealogy of the 
Tyler family, soon to be published by the Grafton Press, 
Boston, Mass., may possibly include this line. Mr. Lyon 
G. Tyler includes a brief summary of this line in Vol. 3 of 
his Letters and Times and also in various numbers of the 
Willam and Mary College Quarterly. The Westmoreland 
Co. line is as follows : 

Chakles Tyleb (1) the apparent founder of this 
branch was living in Westmoreland in 1690; died about 

1723; married Jane , who after his death, married 

William Woffendale. Children: Charles (2), Benjamin, 
Joseph, William, Christian. 

Charles Tyler (2), son of Charles (1), born in West 
moreland Co. Married Susanna Monroe, a collateral rel- 
ative of President Monroe. His sister Christian probably 
married Andrew Monroe. Moved to Prince WiUiam Co. 

53 



where inventory of his estate is dated 12 Apr., 1768. The 
will of his widow was probated 13 June, 1769, and mentions 
the following children: John, Susanna, Ann, William, 
Charles (3), Benjamin and Spenee. This oldest son, John, 
is set up by the historian Hayden, at the head of his lineage. 
He was in the Revolutionary war. It seemed evident to 
W. I. Tyler Brigham, the genealogist, that this John was 
a grandson of Charles Tyler (1) of Westmoreland Co. and 
that it was his younger brother William, who migrated to 
Kentucky and became the grandfather of John W. Tyler. 
The above gives the mere outline of the two lines of 
Virginia ancestry in which research should be made by any 
of the descendants who wish to pursue the matter further. 
No attempt is here made to draw conclusions, as it requires 
much time and patient research of public records to secure 
the definite data upon which to base decisions. 

^p "IP tF w tF 

From 1747 forward to 1908 the facts are taken from 
records in family Bibles or other written data; hence be- 
ginning with the birth of William Tyler in Virginia, Dec, 
27, 1747, we can depend upon these with reasonable cer- 
tainty. He married Letty George, Aug. 15, 1774, migrated 
to Fayette Co., Ky., about 1782. *Children : Charles, Sally, 
William, Benjamin (father of John W. Tyler), Ann, Su- 
sannah, Jessie (Lucretia), Mary (Polly) and George. 

Charles, b. May 27, 1775, lived and died (Feb. 10, 
1860) near Eminence, Ky., and had the following children : 
Benjamin, who died early but left children; William, who 
died unmarried ; John, who lived at Aullville, Lafayette Co., 
Mo. ; Charles, who lived in Mo. ; Ann, who married — Ire- 



*This information regarding the children of William Tyler is from 
notes made by J. Z. Tyler March 6, 1889, in conversation with 
Benjamin G. Tyler, youngest brother of John W. Tyler, and from 
later notes of J. Z. Tyler at Dayton, O., Sept. 26, 1893. 

54 



land ; Malinda, who married — Mortena ; Betsy, who married 
— Christian ; and Sophia who married — Threlkeld. 

Sally, b. Sept. 20, 1777, married — Goram and lived in 
Indiana (probably Putnam Co.). 

William, b. July 24, 1780, went to Dayton, 0., about 
1808, married Julia Mathena, before leaving Ky. Had 
three daughters : Priscilla, who married Levin Cottom ; 
Sarah, who married Jefferson McConnell and moved to Mad- 
ison, Wis. ; Mary, who married Joseph Mumma. 

Benjamin, the fourth child of William Tyler, was born 
in Fayette Co., Ky., Oct. 20, 1782; married Susannah 
Shores, May 2, 1870. Children: John William, Jane, 
Charles, Susan and Benjamin George. John William, the 
subject of this Memorial, was the oldest child, b. Sept. 27, 
1808. 

Ann, b. Aug. 13, 1785, married — Tompkins. 

Susannah, b. Dec. 1, 1789, married — Fitzgerald; had 
sons, Frank, Scott, Hawkins, Jefferson, and daughters, 
Malinda, Caroline and Hulda. 

Jessie, b. Apr. 1, 1793 (or Lucretia), uncertain as to 
which is correct name; said to have married Alexander 
Goram. 

Mary (Polly), b. Mch. 19, 1795, married James Carter 
of Scott Co., Ky., had son, John Carter, and three 
daughters. 

George, b. Apr. 28, 1797, moved to Indiana. A letter 
from him dated Oct. 27, 1832, to his brother Benjamin, 
is written from Hendricks Co., Ind. Had several children, 
but no further data is available. 



55 



DESCENDANTS TO 1908 

The Descendants of John W. Tyler now living (in 
1908) are fifty-two: nine children, twenty grandchildren, 
twenty-two great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grand- 
child. 

John "William Tyler, married (1) Elvira Oxley in Fay- 
ette Co., Ky., June 18, 1831 ; she died Sept. 18, 1838. Mar- 
ried (2), Sarah Roney, in Moultrie Co., Ills., Feb. 28, 1839. 

CHILDREN BY FIRST MARRIAGE. 

1. Theodore Marcellus Tyler, b. Jan. 19, 1833. 

2. Nancy Jane Tyler, b. Aug. 23, 1834. 

3. John William Tyler, Jr., b. March 4, 1S36. 

CHILDREN BY SECOND MARRIAGE. 

All born in Macon Co., Ills., on farm five miles east 
of Decatur. 

4. Benjamin Bushrod Tyler, b. Apr. 9, 1840. 

5. Susan Frances Tyler, b. Mch. 15, 1842. 

6. James Alexander Tyler, b. Sept. 14, 1843, 

7. Barton Stone Tyler, b. Aug. 19, 1845. 

Charles Willis Tyler, b. Oct. 19, 1846 (d. Jan. 17, 
1851). 

8. Joseph Zachary Tyler, b. Oct. 10, 1848. 

Henry Clay Tyler, b. Aug. 16, 1850 (d. Aug. 19, 
1851). 

9. Mary Edna Tyler, b. Aug. 18, 1852. 

10. Elizabeth Ann Tyler, b. Oct. 16, 1854. 

56 



11. Charles Henry Tyler, b. Aug. 19, 1856. 

12. Alice Sarah Tyler, b. Apr. 27, 1859. 

1. Theodore Marcellus Tyler, b. Jan. 19, 1833 ; mar- 
ried Sarah Kennedy, Aug". 18, 1854. Occupation: farmer 
and carpenter. Died July 14, 1868, in Macon Co., 111. After 
his death widow and children moved to Fredonia, Kans. 
Had three children: 

William Henry Tyler, b. Feb. 28, 1858. Unmarried. 
Eesidence: La Fontaine, Kans. Occupation: farmer and 
banker. 

Jen7m Tyler, b. Oct. 19, 1861; married (1) H. F. 
Davis, Oct. 9, 1881 ; daughter Dotie Davis, b. Aug. 26, 1883, 
Macon Co., 111. ; married (2) Jerome B. Myers, May 3, 1896 ; 
son Theodore Myers, b. Wilson Co., Kans., Jan. 2, 1898. 
Residence: Wilson Co., Kans. 

Theodore Marcellus Tyler, Jr. (known as Frank), b. 
Mch. 3, 1866 ; married Loretta B. Hunter, Sept. 20, 1887. 
Two daughters : Mabel C. Tyler, b. Aug. 8, 1888 ; Eileen 
Tyler, b. Apr. 8, 1891. Wife died Aug. 3, 1897, at De- 
catur, 111. Married (2) Nellie Fuser in Indianapolis, Ind., 
May 22, 1898. Three daughters: Mary Jane Tyler, b. 
Dec. 26, 1900; Margaret Tyler, b. Feb. 29, 1904; Mildred 
Tyler, b. July 29, 1906. Eesidence: Indianapolis, Ind. 
Occupation: Harness and saddlery. 

2. Nancy Jane Tyler, b. Aug. 23, 1834. Married to 
Rufus H. Housley, Apr. 9, 1852. Lived various places but 
at Grove City, 111., longest. Present residence, Laramie, 
Wyoming. Children : 

Ella Cora Housley, b. June 6, 1853; married (1) Wil- 
liam Wysgarver; married (2) George W. Harris, deceased 
sister Frances' husband. Now a widow. Residence: Kan- 
sas City, Mo. 

Mary Edna Housley, b. Aug. 14, 1855; married (1) 
Edward R. Morrison, who died Dec. 2, 1902. Son Roy Mor- 

57 



rison (residence Decatur, 111.), b. Oct. 29, 1876, married 
Laura Shaffer and has a daughter Marian, b. June 28, 
1906. Mary E. Morrison married (2) John A. Bastable 
Sept. 6, 1906. Eesidence: Henrietta, Okla. 

Frances Elvira Housley, b. May 29, 1857; married 
George W. Harris in 1879 ; died 1882. Son Harry Harris, 
b. 1881, married 1904 and resides in Kansas City, Mo. 

William Bufus Housley, b. May 18, 1862 ; married Hat- 
tie Kitzmiller. Has three children: Glenn, Bernice and 
Orville. Residence: Joliet, Mont. 

Edwin Lincoln Housley, b. Apr. 29, 1864; married 
Mary Neer. Has four children: Gladys, Leta, Madge and 
Elmer. Residence: Bolivia, HI. 

Katharine May Housley, b. Oct. 6, 1867 ; married John 
A. Rogers. Has two children: Tyler A. Rogers, who lives 
in Laramie, Wyo., and Ruby, who lives with mother in 
Decatur, 111. 

3. John William Tyler, Jr., b. Mch. 4, 1836 ; mar- 
ried Rebecca Ellen Hanks, Dec. 24, 1860, in Decatur, 111. 
Residence: Indianapolis, Ind. Occupation: Harness and 
saddlery. 

4. Benjamin Bushrod Tyler, b. Apr. 9, 1840; mar- 
ried Sarah Burton of Eureka, 111., Dec. 25, 1862. Edu- 
cated for the ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples) 
at Eureka College. Degree of D. D. conferred by Drake 
University (Iowa) in 1891. Pastorates: Charleston, 111., 
Terre Haute, Ind., Frankfort, Ky., Louisville, Ky., N. Y. 
City. Now pastor of South Broadway Christian Church, 
Denver, Colo. Active in Union Sunday School work and 
member of the International S. S. Lesson Committee for 
18 years. Author of a History of the Disciples of Christ. 
Had two sons, Clarence and Walter, who died in in- 
fancy, and one daughter, Lulu, b. 1870, married Errett 

58 



Gates; who has a son, Benjamin Tyler Gates, b. 1896. Res- 
idence: Chicago. 

5. Susan Frances Tyler, b. Mch. 15, 1842; married 
Oct. 16, 1867, Hugh L. Odor, an attorney-at-law, with a 
most promising future, who died Dec. 9, 1875. She has 
continuously resided in Decatur, 111., where her active 
interest has been given to the Christian church and to 
philanthropic work. 

6. James Alexander Tyler, b. Sept. 14, 1843; mar- 
ried Marcella Taylor, Sept. 20, 1870. Educated at Univer- 
sity of Michigan and was a rising attorney-at-law in Taylor- 
viUe, 111. Died Feb. 26, 1876. Widow married G. R. 
Adams and resides in Taylorville, 111. Had two children : 

Walter Byron Tyler, b. July 5, 1871 ; educated at 
Hiram College and Cornell University. Attorney-at-law 
and farmer. Married Grace Hamsher of Decatur, 111., Feb. 
16, 1904. Residence: near Taylorville, 111. 

Maude Tyler, b. Nov. 9, 1873 ; married Oct. 14, 1897, to 
Dr. Rodney D. Smith, now surgeon U. S. Army, Camp 
Downs, Ormoc, Leyte, Philippine Islands. 

7. Barton Stone Tyler, b. Aug. 19, 1845; married 
Josephine Jones, Nov. 6, 1873. Attended Illinois State 
Normal School and taught school and farmed in Macon Co. 
until about 1881, when he moved to Decatur and entered 
the grain and commission business in which he continued 
until his death July 27, 1902. He was one of the founders 
and the secretary for many years of the Illinois Grain Deal- 
ers' Association. One of the grain trade journals said of 
him: ''A man of scrupulous business honor and integrity, 
whose word was as good as his bond, he commanded the 
confidence of all who came in contact with him; while his 
spontaneous good nature, combined, with his sincere cor- 
diality and tactfulness, to make for him personal friends 
of those who did business with him. As a citizen of De- 

59 



catur, lie was among the leading men, with decided convic- 
tions on all questions." Had four children: 

Gertrude Tyler, b. Aug. 16, 1874; married Feb. 8, 1905, 
to Harry B. Harwood of Bloomington, 111,, who died Jan. 
25, 1906. Has a son Harry Barton Harwood, b. Jan. 1, 
1906. Eesidence: Bloomington, 111. 

The three other children of Barton S. Tyler were: 
Ralph, Lelah and Gussie, who died in childhood from 
diphtheria, Ralph, aged nine, and Gussie, aged four, died 
within one week in October, 1887, and Lelah, aged almost 
ten, died in November, 1889. 

8. Joseph Zachaey Tyler, b. Oct. 10, 1848 ; married 
Eva Noel Garnett of Mathews, Va., Oct. 10, 1876. Edu- 
cated at Kentucky University, Lexington, Ky., for the 
ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples), having been 
baptized and received into the Antioch church in Dec, 
1865. Held pastorates at Richmond, Va. (11 years), Au- 
gusta, Ga., Brooklyn, N. Y., Cincinnati, 0., and Cleveland, 
0. Active in Christian Endeavor work, being a trustee of 
the United Society of Christian Endeavor since June, 1891. 
Was National Superintendent of Christian Endeavor for 
the Disciples, 1892-1899, Author of Talks to Young People, 
and a volume of sermons entitled Kinship to Christ. 
Founded the Bethany C. E. Reading Courses in 1897 and 
was greatly in demand for lectures and addresses. In the 
midst of active work as pastor of the Euclid Ave. Christian 
Church, Cleveland, his health failed and Dec. 31, 1899, he 
resigned his pastorate, which had begun in 1892. His pa- 
tient invalidism has been cheered by the constant compan- 
ionship of his courageous and devoted wife, and the influ- 
ence radiating from his home is as eloquent as were his 
sermons during his active ministry. Children: 

James Garnett Tyler, b. Richmond, Va., May 17, 1882 ; 
graduate of Hiram College, Ohio, 1905; resides in Cleveland. 

60 



Ethel Barnum Tyler, b. Brooklyn, N. Y.,Dec. 19, 1885. 
Miriam Streator Tyler, b. Cleveland, 0., May 21, 1894. 

9. Maky Edna Tyler, b. Aug. 18, 1852 ; married John 
A. Meriweather, identified for many years with the banking 
interests of Decatur, Jan. 7, 1874. Residence : Decatur, 111. 
Has two children: 

Dr. Tyler Meriweather, b. June 27, 1875; graduate of 
Jefferson Medical College, Phila. Practicing in Decatur, 111. 

Notie {Elea7ior) Meriweather, b. March 10, 1880 : mar- 
ried Charles Wolcott Kent, June 28, 1904; has son. Jack 
Meriweather Kent, b. June 10, 1905. Mrs. Kent's resi- 
dence is Los Angeles, Cal. 

10. Elizabeth Ann Tyler, b. Oct. 16, 1854 ; married 
Stephen D. Cook, Apr. 25, 1878. Residence: Denver, 
Colo. Children: 

Genevieve Cook, b. Aug. 17, 1880; married Cecil C. 
Garnett, June, 1904; has daughter Elizabeth, b. Oct. 21, 
1906 ; resides in Cripple Creek, Colo. 

Paul Tyler Cook, b. Oct. 17, 1882; graduated from 
University of Colorado in 1907 in electrical engineering; 
residence, Schenectady, N. Y. 

Dorothy Cook, b. July 9, 1890. 

11. Charles Henry Tyler, b. Aug. 19, 1856; mar- 
ried Arabella E. Nofsinger, Nov. 18, 1903. Pharmacist for 
many years in Decatur and Chicago. Residence: Beaver, 
Okla. Occupation: General store and farming. 

12. Alice Sarah Tyler, b. Apr. 27, 1859. In the 
Public Library of Decatur for many years. Library train- 
ing (1893-4) at the Library School of Armour Institute, 
Chicago (now a part of the University of Illinois). In the 
Cleveland, 0., Public Library, almost five years. Secretary 
of the Library Commission of the State of Iowa since 1900. 
Residence: Des Moines, la. 

61 



DESCENDANTS OF THE BROTHERS AND 
SISTERS OF JOHN W. TYLER 

I. Jane, b. April 6, 1810 ; married Dr. AVilliam Ward- 
er Higgins. Died March 27, 1846. Had son Charles who 
lived to be grown but died unmarried. 

II. Charles, b. Nov. 17, 1812; married Eliza Ellen 
Neal; lived for several years near Lexington, Mo., but 
spent the greater part of his life at Bloomfield, Ky., where 
he died Oct. 14, 1887. Children: 

(1) William Henry, died a prisoner of war (in C. 
S. Army) at Camp Chase; (2) Susan Elizabeth, married 
Samuel McKay of Bloomfield, Ky., and has two daugh- 
ters, Ellen and Nancy; Nancy married Frank B. Offutt, 
Jr.; (3) Benjamin Shores, married Addie Brodhead and 
resides at Bloomfield; (4) Jane, married (a) J. D. C. Stev- 
enson of New Orleans. Children : John Tyler Stevenson, 
Charles Louis Stevenson (Lieut, in U. S. Army), Benjamin 
Tyler Stevenson, Jane Palmer Stevenson and Edward 
White Stevenson; married (b) William Bornemann of 
Paducah, Kentucky; (5) Charles B., who lives in Albany, 
Georgia, married Mary Hall :Miller. Children: Sarah 
Ashe and Charles J. (6) Mary Lee, married Edward H. 
Walker of Orlando, Florida. Children: Wilson B. and 
Edward Tyler Walker. (7) Sterling Price, married Sallie 
Carter, son Sterling Price, Jr. 

III. SUS.VXNAH, b. May 4, 1815, married Harvey Hig- 
gins, for whom Higginsville, Mo., was named; died July 

62 



3, 1854. Children: (1) Sarah E,, who married Dr. 
W. C. Bledsoe of LaFayette, Alabama, and died in 
1907, leaving one child, Susan, who is married and lives 
in Austin, Texas. (2) Jane, who married John McMeek- 
in and lived but a few years after marriage. (3) William 
W. (died). (4) Emma S., married John Morris and lives 
in Atlanta, Ga. Children : Harvey L., Fay C, Wylie H. 
(5) Benjamin F., married Mattie Barnett. Children: 
Barnett, Sallie, Harvey J., Benjamin F., Jr. Residence, 
Mayview, Mo. 

IV. Benjamin George, b. Nov. 1, 1824; married (a) 
Eebecca (Cromwell) Smith, a widow. Married (b) Mrs, 
Sally Steadman. Lived near place of birth in Fayette 
Co., Ky. ; died Apr. 1, 1891. Children: (1) Susan, who 
married — Hampton and lived but a few years after 
marriage, leaving a son, Tyler Hampton; (2) Jane, who 
married Dr. Adkins of Lexington, Ky., and died; (3) Ben- 
jamin Vincent, who became a lawyer and located in Cin- 
cinnati, 0.; married Miss Nellie Pogue and has daughter 
Virginia Rebecca. 



63 



REPRINTS OF SOME FAMILY PAPERS] 

*BAPTIST MINISTERIAL CERTIFICATE, 1835 

The Union Baptist Church of Christ on Hazel Creek, 
Montgomery County, Indiana, sendeth Christian salutation : 

This is to Certify that our beloved John W. Tyler is 
a member and a regular ordained Minister of the Gospel 
with us in good standing and full fellowship and since he 
joined us he has been constant in exercising a gift of ex- 
hortation and preaching with entire satisfaction to the 
church ; and as such we do recommend him to all our Chris- 
tian brethren and pray that he may be made a blessing 
wherever his lot may be cast and when received by you is 
dismissed by us. Done by order of the Church aforesaid 
at our Church Meeting the fourth Saturday in August, 
1835. Isaac Sutton, Church Clerk. 



CERTIFICATE OF ORDINATION IN THE CHRISTIAN 
CHURCH, 1853 

This is to certify that on the 31st day of July, 1853, 
we did, in the presence of the Christian! congregation or- 

*NoTE. This certificate has appended thereto, the church letter 
of his first wife, Elvira Oxley Tyler. 

•j-Location not given, but undoubtedly Decatur, 111. 

His departure from the Baptist church seems to have been grad- 
ual and his connection was never formally severed. In a letter 
written to J. Z. Tyler in 1873 he says: "In the fall of 18351 moved 
to Illinois with my letter of commendation (from the Union Bap- 
tist Church on Hazel Creek, Ind.) and continued to preach and learn 
more of the way of life and salvation . . . but the reason that 
I discarded the name 'Baptist' was that it was and is unauthorized 
by the "Word of God." 

64 



dain John "W. Tyler, Sen., a Minister of the Gospel and as 
such authorized to administer the sacraments and perform 
all the duties belonging to ministers of the Christian church. 
Given under our hands, July 31st, 1853. 

Henry Y. Kellar, 
A. L. Kellar, 

Ordained Ministers. 



WILLIAM TYLER'S DEED TO FAYETTE CO., KY., 
FARM, 1789 (?)* 

This Indenture made this .... day of in the 

year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty 

between Richard Masterson and Sarah his wife of the 

county of Fayette and commonwealth of Virginiaf of the one 
part and "William Tyler of the county and commonwealth 
aforesaid of the other part, 

Witnesseth, that the said Richard Masterson and Sarah 
his wife, for and in consideration of the sum of Ninety 
pounds current money of Virginia, to them in hand paid, the 
receipt thereof they do hereby acknowledge, and forever 
acquit and discharge the said William Tyler, his heirs, ex- 
ecutors and administrators, have granted, bargained, sold, 
aliened and confirmed and by these presents doth grant, 
bargain, sell, alien and confirm, unto the said William Tyler, 
his heirs and assigns forever, all that tract or parcel of land 
situate, lying and being, on the waters of the town fork 
of the branch of Elkhorn Creek and bounded as follows : 
Beginning at William Fitzjarld's South west corner at a 
White Oak and White Ash in Robert Thompson's line near 
the Meeting House thence with said Thompson 's line South 
sixty degrees East fifty-eight poles to two Sugar trees and 
Buckeye corner to said Thompson then South thirty degrees 

*Exact date not given in Deed, as a printed blank was used, 
but placed on record July, 1789. 

tShould be Kentucky, but in using printed (Virginia.) blank the 
change was evidently not made. 

65 



West thirty poles to a Black Walnut and two Sugar trees 
thence South eighty degrees East one hundred and fifty 
poles to a Walnut Honey Locust and Hickory thence North 
twenty degrees East one hundred and twenty-six poles to a 
Sugar tree, Black Beech and Buckeye in Thomas Shores 
line thence North sixty-six degrees West one hundred and 
thirty-nine poles to a Box Elder, small Hickory and Honey 
Locust on the said Shores line then South forty five degrees 
West along by the Meeting House one hundred and forty 
poles to the beginning. Containing one hundred and fifty 
acres it being a part of William McConnels Settlement and 
Pre-emption assigned to John Clark together with all im- 
provements water-courses, profits and appurtenances what- 
soever to the said premises belonging, or in any wise apper- 
taining, and the reversions, remainders and profits thereof, 
and all the estate, right, title, interest, property, claim and 
demand of them the said Richard Masterson and Sarah his 
wife of in and to the same. To Have and to Hold the 
lands hereby conveyed, with all and singular the premises, 
and every part and parcel thereof, with every of the appur- 
tenances, unto the said William Tyler and the said Richard 
Masterson and Sarah his wife for themselves, their heirs, 
executors and administrators, do covenant, promise and 
agree, to and with the said William Tyler, his heirs and 
assigns, by these presents, that the premises before men- 
tioned now are, and forever hereafter shall remain free 
of and from, all former and other gifts, grants, bargains, 
sales, dowers, rights and title of dower, judgments, exe- 
cutions, titles, troubles, charges and incumbrances what- 
soever done, or suffered to be done, by them, the said 
Richard Masterson and Sarah his wife or any other per- 
son or persons whatsoever. And the said Richard Mas- 
terson and Sarah his wife and their heirs, all and singular 
the premises hereby bargained and sold, with the appurte- 

66 



Richard Masterson (Seal) 

Sarah Masterson (Seal) 



nances unto the said William Tyler his heirs and assigns 
against them the said Richard Masterson and Sarah his 
wife and their heirs and all and every other person or 
persons whatsoever and their heirs, doth and will warrant, 
and forever defend by these presents. 

In Witness whereof they the said Richard Master- 
son and Sarah his wife have hereunto set their hands and 
seals the day and year first above written. 
Signed, sealed and" 
delivered in the 
presence of us 

Fayette County Clerk's office. Recorded in Book B 
folio (115) and Exam<i. Teste, Tho. Arnold, D. C. F. C. 

Recorded a second time in Book No. 2 page 492 and 
Examined. Teste, Ro. S. Todd, D. C. F. C. 

On reverse of Deed is the following: 

Fayette County July Court 1789. 

This Indenture was produced in Court acknowledged 
by Richard Masterson and Sarah Masterson his wife, she 
being first privily examined as the law directs voluntarily 
relinquishes her right of Dower in the estate conveyed by 
this Indenture, whereupon the same is ordered to be re- 
corded. Teste, Levi Todd [Letters here illegible.] 

Fayette County Ct. Clerks Office, September 1st, 1807. 

This Indenture was again produced before me the 
Clerk of said County and is admitted again to be recorded 
in my office agreeable to law, the former record having 
been destroyed by fire. Teste, Levi Todd, C. H. 



67 



WILL OP WILLIAM TYLER, 1827 
I, William Tyler, do hereby make and constitute this 
my last Will and Testament in manner and form follow- 
ing, that is to say: 

First, I give to wife, Letty Tyler, during her natural 
life all my estate both real and personal and twelve months 
after her decease, it is my Will that my Executors pay 
my son Charles Tyler Five Dollars as his portion of my 
estate, and that the balance of my estate both real and 
personal is to be sold by my Executors and divided among 
my children and their heirs in manner and form following. 
— I give and bequeath to my daughter Sally Gorehan, Ben- 
jamin Tyler, Anny Tompkins, heirs Susannah FitzGerald, 
Mary Carter equal portions of my estate when divided, and 
to my son William Tyler as much of my estate as will 
make his proportion equal to the rest, upon his accounting 
for Two Hundred and twelve dollars and fifty cents of 
borrowed money with interest for which I hold his note, 
and to my son George Tyler as much of my estate as will 
make his proportion equal to the rest of my heirs upon his 
accounting to my Executors for Thirty dollars of borrowed 
money with interest for which I hold his note. 

I also direct that all my just debts and funeral ex- 
penses shall be paid before the division above mentioned 
takes place; and lastly I do constitute and appoint my 
son Benjamin Tyler and William C. Offutt my Executors 
of this my last Will and Testament. May 18, 1827. 

William Tyler (Seal) 

Signed in presence of 

John McDowell 
Jane McDowell 



68 



N. B. I do acknowledge this to be my last Will and 
Testament. Wm. Tyler 

Teste 

Wm. C. Ofputt 
Malissa Opfutt 



69 



THE TORCH PRESS 
CEDAR RAPIDS. IOWA 



lilllM iJlillill 



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t 

JOHN W. TYLER: A MEMORIAL 



